new @gucci #GCC2013 handbag's made with leather from #deforestation-free zone in #Brazil via @guardian #PFW #Amazon

Ask most fashion retailers where the leather in their bags, shoes and clothes comes from, and they'll tell you it's Italian. Italy has a long history of leather production. Doubtless it has some fine cows. But if all the accessories and shoes (of the latter, we produce around 11bn pairs a year globally, using 65% of all leather) claiming Italian heritage really were from Italian cattle, they would overrun the country. They would drink from the Trevi fountain and chew the cud in Piazza San Marco. To find some of Italy's mystery cows, you have to travel 6,000 miles southwest to Brazil – particularly the state of Mato Grosso. This area shoulders the bulk of Brazil's national cattle herd, which stands at 200m head of cattle. Alongside China, Brazil is now the top exporter of tanned leather and close to 10% of its hides are bound for Italy, retanned in facilities where hides be...